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Summary

Imagine the world that we live in and all of the people that you know and have ever met. Some are family, others friends and associates, but suppose that 1 out of every twenty of them is something more than a mere man or woman; they are alien beings from the planet Venus, and though they are superior to us in every way they have lived peacefully amongst our kind for the past several decades. But now, a faction of their race has decided that their time for humility has come to its end. They send cyborgs out on a global campaign to capture and detain all of mankind until the day of Harvest, but thanks to your best friends' intervention you are one of the few to escape. Such is the plight of the story's main character, Derek, and written in journal form are his personal experiences and thoughts of a world where humans are no longer the dominate species on earth. Taken in by his best friend Kiito's family, who are also Venusian, Derek goes through the motions of learning all that he can about their kind, and by chance he discovers that he himself is a Hybrid. Half human and half Venusian, the fact that he has the same capabilities as his full blooded counterparts thrills him to no end, but the responsibility that he feels in regard to his newfound power compels him to reluctantly join in the Rebellion's effort to liberate mankind through war with the tyrannical Conglomerate. Nevertheless, before he has the time to make peace with that decision he is presented with an opportunity to help make the world a better place than it was before; a planet where personal agendas are a thing of the past, political gain plays no part in doing what's right for society and people are once again free to sleep with their doors unlocked. It is a state of being for which Derek has always dreamed of, and all that he has to do in order to bring it to fruition is form a secret alliance with a third party. Blinded by the possibilities, he fools himself into believing that accepting the offer and keeping it a secret is in everyone's best interest, but, when the time comes to fulfill that oath he realizes the ramifications that his treachery may bring. Because his insight comes too late to warn the Rebellion of the intended ambush upon their forces, a personal sacrifice has to me made, but will it be enough to protect them and all of mankind from what lurks on the horizon.

Excerpts

Prologue During a time in earth's history when men of different races were learning how to tolerate one another beings native to the planet Mars plotted to invade our world . . . After learning of this spies loyal to the Intergalactic Council shared that information with all of the other intelligent life in the universe; some did not care while others held sympathy in regard to our forthcoming plight, but Venusians were the only race that believed our species was worth saving. And though they had strong faith in what mankind would someday become, they did not believe that we were prepared to know that beings superior to ourselves exist. So before coming to our planet, millions of brave Venusian warriors took part in DNA manipulation to conceal their true identities from us, and then they spread out across the globe to ensure that they would have the upper hand when the Martians attacked. Days quickly turned into weeks, and weeks eventually became months before they received word that the threat was no more. For reasons unknown, there had been a civil war on Mars and all signs of life had ceased to exist; therefore, the Venusian forces were cleared to return home. Most of them were delighted at the thought of going back to their home planet, but many had grown to love their lives and the people here on earth so much that they wished to stay. After much deliberation on the subject, those who wished to do so were allowed to live out the remainder of their lives here with one stipulation—they keep their true identities hidden. They agreed to do so, but the task soon proved easier said than done. Without the concerns of war lingering in their minds, Venusian men and women alike found themselves becoming infatuated with humans. Initially, the concept of man and Venusian coupling caused uproar in the Venusian community here and abroad, but upon the age-old concept that love knows no bounds, the clause was amended. It then stated that the truth of a Venusian's identity could be shared, but only with someone that was trusted to keep the secret. What methods they used to make that determination I do not know, but many found happiness and got married outside of their race. And being the same, save a few genetic differences, humans and Venusians began to procreate. For decades to follow they and their offspring remained hidden amongst mankind and all was good until the season changed from summer to the fall of 2012. No one knows the reason why, but it was around said time that a young and very powerful Venusian decided that he was tired of hiding his heritage from beings inferior to himself. However, he knew that he could not bring about change on his own. Though skeptical of the outcome, he shared his feelings with those he trusted, and before long his sentiment had spread across the globe like a wildfire. The resulting feedback, supportive in every way, gave him the gall to move forward with his hearts' desire; thus, the organization now known as the Conglomerate was founded, and intricate planning to shift global dominance from the hands of man to Venusian was begun . . . Introduction Tuesday, September 24th, 2012 Dear Reader, This evening after being confined to a training facility for seven days, my teammates and I were allowed to venture out and bear witness to the world we left behind when the Conglomerate took over. As we traveled from one place to another throughout town, each of us was surprised by how normal things seemed to be. People were out and about shopping for groceries, making use of fast food drive thrus, and playing at the park as if nothing at all had happened. Seeing those things reminded me of something that my sixth grade history teacher used to say whenever we discussed the topic of war, and it went a little something like this. 'Because history books are written by the victors of a conflict, very seldom is there a fair interpretation of what truly caused them. If those on the losing side do not pass their version of the story on, their truth fades away with the generations that follow, and all that remains is what the vanquishers wrote to endorse their reasons for going war.' Subsequent reflection on those words compelled me to find pen and paper when we returned to our makeshift home, and with them, I began writing this letter to you in the form of a journal. Reason being, so that if we fail to return things to the way that they used to be, whoever finds this will know what happened from a human's point of view, and what we did in an effort to rectify the situation. Knowledge is and will always be the greatest source of power, so when you are done, please pass my story along to the next person so that humanity's truth will not be lost. Now that you know my reason for writing, it is my honor to tell you how events unfolded on Monday, September 17th, 2012; the day that mankind ceased to be the dominate species here on earth. . . Chapter 1 Overwhelming Curiosity A few hours before the invasion began I was at work. And though it's not the principal setting of my story, what happened while I was there played a significant role in my not being captured. It was about 3:30 p.m. when my best friend Kiito first called me on my cell phone. That in itself was weird because he always waited until I got off from work to contact me, but what made his call even more peculiar was the way that he was acting when I answered the phone. "Hey what's up, Kiito?" "Are you going to the park today?" he asked anxiously. "I don't know, it depends on how I feel when I get off," I responded, and then just as I was about to ask him what was wrong, he cut me off saying that he would call back and abruptly hung up the phone. So then, not only did I know that something was wrong, I believed that he was trying to hide the fact that he was on the phone, and I became increasingly curious. I wanted to call him back, but I managed to hold out until he did as he promised about ten minutes later. "Hello?" I said curiously. "Are you going to the park?" he whispered. "Why, is there something wrong, Kiito?" "No . . . I mean yes, but I can't tell you over the phone," he stated. "Why not?" "I just can't, but I'll tell you when you get to the park, okay?" His final word let me know that he was insistent upon me going there, so I had no choice but to agree. The instant that I gave him verbal confirmation that I would, he said, "See you there," and hung up the phone. I was puzzled to say the very least because not once since I've known Kiito had he ever seemed so nervous or been so secretive. That led me to presume the worst, but as I thought back over our conversation and remembered his pledge to meet me at the park, I managed to convince myself that whatever he had to tell me couldn't be too serious. That belief eased my mind, but it didn't stop me from wondering what he had to say and the countdown to quitting time began.